Driving for long hours requires more than just a strong will. Stamina also helps. And when the driver has spent previous days in the comfort of a good house and long hours of rest, it might be a lot easier than a sleep-deprived grad student taking three courses in one semester. The last time I drove for such a long distance, it took the alertness of the fellow passenger in the front seat to prevent the car from going off the road in a brief second of a careless shut eye. We were heading to Kansas City, five hours away. This time, there was no such instance, or even a minor risk. A strong body, a strong mind, a good healthy conversation, and a wide open road with pleasant breeze kept us all alert, and at ease.

The only other observation about this journey other than the presence of a large noticeable number of signposts advertising porn and “pleasure stops”, and smiling co-commuters racing with us in different cars at over 70 miles an hour, is the incredibly long and winding nature of the one road that took us on over 280 miles of the whole trip. Ah, and large trucks transporting whoknowswhat. It’s hard not to make comparisons with the roads on the way from the south of Nigeria to the north. The only difference will be the quality of the tar – not cars.